False Love
by Crymson Ash
Summary: Ginny Weasley wanted love. Tom Riddle just wanted a soul. Written for the first round of Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.


**Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition-Round 1**

 _This is the round that was won by Ned (isaacswolfsbane) in Season 4 in The Daily Prophet competition._

 _As part of this competition, everyone is in a team, and what would be nicer than writing a fic for one of your fellow teammates? Well, now is your chance. But this isn't your usual "write a fic for a friend" round. In this round, you will be writing a fic for a teammate, but you'll be writing their NOTP._

 _This pairing may be the same as your NOTP, or it may be your OTP. Who knows? For some people this will be easier than others, but whatever the NOTP, it needs to be written romantically._

 **Position:Keeper**

 **Prompt: Write a NOTP(Not My OTP)**

 **Keeper: Write your seeker's NOTP (Ginny Weasley/Harry Potter)**

 **Word Count: 1184**

 **Summary:** _Ginny Weasley wanted love. Tom Riddle just wanted a soul._

Tom Riddle had been trapped in a diary for many years. So many in fact, that he had forgotten how long he had been in this inky hell. Each day, he was suffocating in the darkness, and he longed for freedom.

Then, one day, he heard the sound of a quill scratching on the surface of the darkness. So desperate for freedom he was, he reached out. Just like that, Ginny Weasley was ensnared.

Each day, Tom would patiently listen to all of Ginny Weasley's pathetic problems. She prattled on and on about her silly little crush on the oh so great Harry Potter. He suffered through entire pages filled with her writing about how brave and handsome he was. Tom would just soothe her worries, and he would laugh whenever Ginny wrote, _You're the only one that understands me, Tom._

Though, Tom wanted more. He wanted to live. He wanted to be more than a forgotten memory. So, he planned, and little Ginny was the fulcrum point of said planning.

Then, the day finally came, and Tom wrote to Ginny, _I have something to show you. Would you like to see it?_

Ginny eagerly wrote back, _Of course I would like to see it, Tom!_

Tom laughed coldly inside the diary. He opened up the diary to the imaginary world he had created over the course of the past week. Ginny tumbled in and gazed in wonder at the scene before her. It was Hogwarts, an exact replica. Except, there was only one lone figure standing in front of the great oak doors.

Tom watched as she ran up the stairs. A calculating smile stretched across his face as she started to talk with the figure.

"Harry?" Ginny said tentatively.

"Yes, Ginny?" Harry replied.

"Is it really you?" Ginny asked.

"Of course it's really me," Harry said, a confused expression on his face.

After hearing that, Ginny beamed and hugged him.

Harry hugged her back, and she felt him bury his face in her hair. She blushed darkly, but her smile couldn't have been brighter.

"I've been so blind to your beauty," Harry said, the words soft and slightly muffled by her hair. "But I see now, and I don't ever think that I can leave."

But then Tom was at Ginny's side, saying, "You have to leave now, Ginny. You don't have much time left until your next class."

Ginny stared pleadingly at Tom.

"Let me come back, please!"

Tom smiled and said, "Of course. You can come back whenever you want to. Just write: _I want to go to Hogwarts_ , and you'll be automatically transported here."

"Thank you, Tom." Ginny threw her arms around the older boy, not noticing the grimace that painted Tom's expression as soon as she wrapped him in a hug.

"It's my pleasure," Tom replied.

Tom was waiting when Ginny returned to the diary. He heard the quill frantically scrawl across the page as her message appeared. _I want to go to Hogwarts._ Tom happily obliged.

Tom saw as Ginny ran towards Harry. He saw her look down and gasp, "I've grown taller!"

"Of course you did Ginny, you're fifteen now after all," Harry replied. "You look so beautiful."

Tom laughed quietly. What Ginny didn't know was that time was a bit skewed when she was in this imaginary world of hers. She would age faster in this world, the world around her molding to her heart's desire.

Tom was all too happy with the outcome, the sooner her soul reached its peak, the better.

"Ginny," Harry said, taking her hand. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade to get some butterbeer?"

Ginny blushed as she looked down at Harry's hand. "Of course! I've never been to Hogsmeade."

"Let's go, then!" Harry said, dragging Ginny along.

After letting Ginny have her fun, Tom walked up to her and said, "Ginny, it's time to go again."

"Already?" Ginny asked, a pout adorning her face.

"You can come visit again, just remember—"

"If I want to come back, I have to write: _I want to go to Hogwarts,_ " Ginny said with a roll of her eyes.

"Good. You need to go eat, now." Tom made a shooing gesture at her, smile still firmly on his lips, and she left the diary.

Tom was getting bored when he felt himself being carried up and away. Probably to Ginny's dorm room. He heard the rapid tap of her footsteps, indicating that she was running. He felt himself put on the table, and Ginny riffling through his pages. She found an open space, and in barely legible script wrote: _I want to go to Hogwarts._

Ginny's soul tumbled through the pages and landed in the dreamscape Tom had created. Harry was waiting, smiling, always smiling for her. Ginny returned the smile, her heart ready to burst out of her chest, as Harry helped her to her feet.

"Hello Ginny," Harry said, tucking a stray strand of red hair out of her face. "You grow more beautiful each time I see you."

Ginny blushed a deep scarlet.

"Harry, you always know how to say the right words."

"Of course I'm able to say the right words, you inspire me," Harry said, caressing her cheek..

Once Tom decided that they had enough time together, he gently tapped her on the shoulder, and made a motion with his head. Ginny said goodbye to Harry, and she left the diary, happy, but wanting more.

Tom waited for twelve hours, even if it felt like so much more in his everlasting prison, and just as he expected, Ginny opened the diary and wrote with eager strokes of her quill: _I want to go to Hogwarts._

Ginny rushed to meet Harry, their hands automatically clasping as soon as they were within reach.

Harry sat Ginny down on the grass, and said, "Ginny, I have something to show you. I mean, you are a twenty year old woman now. I think you should settle down. You know, have a family."

"I won't settle down unless it's with you!" Ginny said, a bewildered look in her eyes.

"I wasn't saying that you should settle down with someone else. I was just saying this." Harry got down on one knee, presenting a simple diamond ring to her. "Ginny Weasley, would you honor me by becoming my wife?"

Ginny gaped uncomprehendingly at Harry for a second, before a smile spread across her face and she threw herself at him.

"Yes!"

Harry laughed, hugging her back. He pulled away slightly, cradling her face between his hands, and leaned in to kiss her.

As soon as she kissed him back, her soul vanished.

Tom Riddle rose from the diary, not a day over sixteen. He smiled at the sight of Ginny's limp body slumped over the diary. It was all thanks to her, of course.

The next day, the students of Hogwarts were horrified to see Ginny Weasley's body sprawled across the Entrance Hall. On the wall above her body, there was a message written in red: _Love is a promise already delivered broken._


End file.
